Card-index.



No. 759,483. PATBNTED MAY 1o, 1904..

W. K. sPARRo-W.

, GARD INDEX.

APPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 1a, 1903.

No MODEL.

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IHIIHHHIIHIIHHHUHHHHIHNIIHHH 'l we MIO@ WvLLlAM K. SPARRow UNITED I.STATES Latented May 10, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

CARD-INDEX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 759,483, dated May 10,1904.

Application flied September 18, 1903. Serial No. 173,645. (No model.)

y citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county oi'Kings, State of New York, have invented certain-new and usefulImprovements in Card-Indexes, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in card-indexes, and particularlyto a device for preventing the accidental misplacement of a ,card in theiiles.

In the many uses to which card-indexes are withdrawn'from the filestemporarily for convenience and afterward replaced. In the operation itis impossible in the ordinary iiles to always be sure that each card hasbeen put back into the iiles in the proper compartment or space.

It is the object of this invention to provide a construction the use ofwhich will insure the proper distribution of the cards in the liles.

is intended to be as simple as possible and yet adapted to be applied tofiles already in use or to be adjusted to suit the varying conditions ofpractice.

The invention consists in providing a blocking member which may beplaced in the tile tray or drawer. Such a device is provided for eachset of cardsor series under the same subheading in the index and has`the projecting member in a ditferent position for each series orsublieading. or sublieading is punched or notched to correspond with theposition oi' the projection of the device, so that a card can only beinserted into that compartment or under `that subheading for which itwas originally intended. If accidentally placed in any othercompartment, the card will fail to fall down into its proper position.The details will be more clearly seen on an inspection of theaccompanying sheet of drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective viewof a tray or drawer with devices embodying the improvements of myinvention, a portion of the tray being broken away, showing cards inplace. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectionalview of the device, showing Each card ot' the set' a card in its properposition and another card dotted which has been placed in the lile inits wrong compartment. Fig. 4 shows another form of blocking deviceinvolving my invention.

lindicates the bottom of the tray.

2 is a rod which is employed with some kinds of tiles for locking thecards in place.

3, 4, and 5 represent cards in their proper positions in the tray,showing that there are three subheadings in this particular tray. Thecards ot' each subheading or' course should be placed in their propercompartment, and for this purpose my device is employed.

6 is a blocking member which is situated in the bottom of the tray andin this particular form of my invention is supported at one end by theplate 7 and at the other end by the plate 8, the` member 6 beingtelescopic and having a companion member 9. The tube portion oi' thelocking member 6 is slotted at In order that this device may be useful,it

each side, as shown in Fig. 2 at 60, to permit it to be inserted in theopening or slotA 70 between two ol the fingers 71. These fingers 71 areformed by bending up from the edge the plate 7, the plates 7 and 8 beingpreferably formed of sheet metal. The rod member 9 is provided with theslotted portion 90 between two shoulders, so as to lit in 'acorresponding manner in one of the openings or slots 8O between a pairof lingers 8l 8l of the plate 8.

The invention will be readily understood from the drawings. Let usconsider thecompartment containing the card marked Ariz. A blockingmember will be provided supported by the plates 7 and 8 in some one ofthe various possible positions, asvsuggested in the drawings. Each cardintended to be iiled under this snbheadingi'will then be punched ornotched on the edge to correspond with the position of the blockingmember. Any card which is properly notched will iit into thiscompartment under this subheading and in no other, since eachcompartment or subheading has a peculiar or individual position oit' itsblocking member. Fig. 3 indicates in dotted lines what occurs when acard is inserted into a wrong compartment, the notch IOO Wyo., manyother combinations may be,

obtained, thus affording able series.

Of course the number of cards under the different sublieadings varies.For this reason the supporting-plates '7 and 8 and the blocking member 6are adjustable.

72 represents a tongue or projection from the under plate 7, projectingthrough the slot 82 in the upper plate 8 to prevent the parts from beingentirely retracted.

These blocking devices may be employed in any number in a tray,depending only upon the size of the device, it being intended that thereshall be one device foreach subheading, so that no confusion can arise.

The parts of this construction are simple to manufacture and are readilyadapted foruse in any style or form of tray or file and are an almostinnumersuch that they may be adjusted and arranged by the ordinary userof the index.

The blocking members may bey formed as projections or corrugations inplates of metal, if desired, or a pair of adjustable plates havingintegral corresponding ledges in positions similar to the` slots oropenings between the fingers in the form of device shown inthe drawingsmay be employed, as shown in Fig. 4, where the plates '7 and 8 have thecorresponding corrugations or ledges 6l and 91, respectively. l

What I claim isi I. A device of the character described comprising apair of adjustable supporting-plates having a plurality of registeringslotsat each endl and a telescopic blocking member adapted to be iittedintoany one of the said slots.

2. A card-index comprising a tray, aseries of adjustable plates situatedon the bottom of said tray and a blocking member carried by each of saidplates in different longitudinal positions for the purpose specified. l

3. A device oi' the character described includinga hat supporting-plateandablocking memberfadapted to be'secured thereto in any one of apluralityl of positions from one side to the other of said plate incombination .with a series of` cards having notches in one edge andarranged at right angles to said blocking member for the purposespecified.

4. Ai card-indexcomprising a tray,a series of cards arranged underdifferent headings, a blocking device for each heading and means forfixing the blocking device for each heading in different positions fromone side to the other of said tray, the cards for that particularheading of said tray being notched on the edge to correspond with theposition of its blocking member and freely movable.

5. Acard-index comprising a tray, a series of supporting-plates restingtherein, extensible blocking members corresponding to said plates andmeans for fixing said members in position on said plates in any one of aplurality` of dii'erent positions for the purpose specified. Y

6. Acard-index file comprising a tray, a plurality ot' subheading-cards,a plurality of blocking devices corresponding to the subheadings, and aplurality of cards notched on Y theedge to correspond with the blockingdevices, the notches in the cards under each subheading beingdifferently, situated.

7 A device of the character described in-` cluding a tray a series ofpairs of telescopic members and means for securing said members in placein any one of a plurality of positions from oneside to the other of saidtray, a plurality of pairs of said members being secured in differentlongitudinal arrangement.

8. A card-index system comprising a series of cards arranged underdifferent headings and having notches in the edges thereof, the cardsunder one head having notches arranged to correspond transversely, theseries of notches in the cards under each heading being differentlysituated from the notches in the cards under the otherl headings, andvmeans adapted to coact with the cards of each heading to permit saidcards to be iiled uniformly but to prevent the tiling of cards from anyother heading.

9. In a card-index system the combination IOO of a tray having abruptsides and ends, a card substantially the Width ot' the interior of saidtray and having a notch in its edge, a block- IIO independently of anylocking device and with- Y out sidewise movement. WILLIAM K.

Witnesses: p Ronin S. ALLYN, L. VREELAND.

sPARRow.

